


Endgame

by RisuAlto



Series: Tumblr Ask Prompt Fills [1]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 12:10:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21475822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RisuAlto/pseuds/RisuAlto
Summary: This feeling, EDI thinks as she takes Jeff’s hand, is what they saved the galaxy for.
Relationships: EDI & Everyone, EDI/Jeff "Joker" Moreau (implied)
Series: Tumblr Ask Prompt Fills [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547980
Kudos: 8





	Endgame

It wasn’t as though EDI had never seen fear in the eyes of people who met her for the first time. She is, after all, using a platform for human interaction that looked to be completely made of metal and does not hide it. The initial fear is almost normal. 

It’s just that– never before has EDI failed to see that fear fade. Never before has she seen someone so terrified to exist in the same space as her that they would surround themselves with armed private guards (never mind the fact that the crew of the Normandy, the heroes of the galaxy, is in the room with them). Never before has anyone requested she be removed from a meeting because she poses such a threat that she “should be considered as bad as another Reaper invasion.”

Among the several billion other processes occurring aboard the Normandy at the moment, EDI takes a few impulses to catalogue this particular state of data as the emotion Jeff has often called “hurt.” It’s similar to “offended,” she notes, but not identical. This feeling invokes sadness alongside the bitterness and anger, and it almost cuts. EDI quickly adds another few processes and catalogues that, if amplified, she thinks this emotion could mirror physical pain for a body capable of feeling it.

She wonders if this politician, who trembles in a corner of the meeting room, understands this.

There is a moment of stunned silence from the Normandy’s crew, and then another moment of silence in which everyone expects to hear Shepard speak up—because the Commander would. And then there are at least two more moments where their collective loss becomes more real.

“’Scuse me?” says Vega, then. “What’d you just say about my crewmate?”

The man in the corner adjusts his coat. “I said to remove that thing before it invites more Reapers on us,” he says, and EDI swears she can hear his terrified pulse from here.

“Tsk,” says Javik’s voice. “It is a wonder this species ever achieved spaceflight if this is how they treat their closest approximations of a computational engineering marvel.”

For the ears of friends only, EDI thinks, she hears Tali’Zorah mumble, “Bosh’tet,” under her breath before she says, “EDI is not a threat; she’s our comrade,” and then adds, more bitterly, “No one ever became a great leader by being afraid of progress.”

Garrus steps forward and gestures to the side as he says, “The Reapers would still be tearing Earth to the ground if not for EDI’s help. She’s literally part of the only shot the Milky Way had.” His arm ends up like a shield in front of EDI. She feels as the hurt slowly relinquishes a few processes, and EDI immediately sends them to the battery systems.

Liara, too, speaks up from over EDI’s shoulder. “Yes,” she says. “EDI is our friend and our crewmate. She has done nothing to warrant such treatment from you.”

However, EDI watches as the armed men continue to flex anxiously, and the man behind them continues to push himself as far away from her as possible. She looks around and says, calmly, “I understand that seeing this body can be a shock for some humans. If it will make this meeting go more smoothly, I can remove myse—”

“Don’t even think about it, EDI,” says Jeff, reaching up to hold her arm from where he sits. “You’re one of us. Anyone who wants talk to the crew of the Normandy wants to talk to you, too.” He looks across the room. “Stand strong, stand together, right guys? Even in the face of desk workers who don’t like the way their heroes look.” 

It’s in that moment that EDI feels several million processes pause to make way for a memory of Shepard’s smile. This feeling, EDI thinks as she takes Jeff’s hand, is what they saved the galaxy for.


End file.
